Grisham ranks as top-selling author of decade

December 31, 1999
Web posted at: 6:11 p.m. EST (2311 GMT)

(CNN) -- What's the importance of the number 60,742,288?

That's the number of best-selling books author John Grisham sold in the 1990s.

Grisham, whose titles include "The Pelican Brief," "The Firm," "The Chamber," and "The Runaway Jury," is the best-selling author of the 1990s, according to a Top 100 list compiled from data submitted by book publishers to Publisher Weekly magazine.

In second place for cumulative sales is prolific horror writer Stephen King, who sold nearly 38.3 million copies of his books during the decade. King's best selling titles in the 1990s were the six "The Green Mile" serial novel installments.

The third most popular author of the decade is Danielle Steel, whose books on the Top 100 list sold a combined 37.5 million copies. The Steel books making the list include "The Gift," "Lightning," "Jewels," "Mixed Blessings," and "Vanished."

Rounding out the top five in cumulative sales were Michael Crichton, with more than 27.4 million books, and Tom Clancy, whose best sellers sold nearly 25.9 million copies.

The Top 100 list tallied book sales from January 1990 through March 29, 1999.

The best-selling single book from the list was Grisham's "The Pelican Brief," which registered 11,232,480 copies sold. Number two was also a Grisham title; "The Client," which sold 8.1 million copies.

Number three, "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus," is the highest-ranked work of non-fiction, selling 6.6 million copies in the period.

Rounding out the top-ten best sellers for the decade were:

4. "Jurassic Park" by Michael Crichton5. "The Firm" by John Grisham6. "In the Kitchen With Rosie" by Rosie Daley7. "The Bridges of Madison County" by Robert James Waller8. "Rising Sun" by Michael Crichton9. "The Chamber" by John Grisham10. "The Runaway Jury" by John Grisham.